Broken Dreams
by White-tiger-demoness
Summary: The future is never set in stone. This is the story of a hero who was never meant to be. WARNING! AU, Darkfic, Character death, Daxter centric.
1. Lost

Woohoo first chapter! Nothing really to say other then I hope you enjoy it.

WARNING! Character death, quite possibly dark fic, Daxter Centric.

Disclaimer: The video game Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy and anything associated with it belongs to Naughty Dog INC.

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For as long as Samos, the Sage of Green Eco, had been the sage of Sandover village he had vehemently forbid anyone from going to the shrouded island not far off of their shore. He told them that the island was extremely dangerous, filled with lurkers and Dark eco. The villagers heeded the words of their wise sage and kept as far from it as they could. To two young adventurous boys though the prospect of a mysterious, forbidden island was very exiting.

Which was why in the very early morning Jak and his best friend Daxter stole the village fisherman's boat, to go to Misty Island. Jak piloted the boat with ease and soon pulled up to the dock at Misty Island. Climbing out of the boat they tethered it to the dock to prevent the tide from sweeping it away. Daxter wasn't so sure about being there as he had been earlier.

"yanno, maybe we should just go back. Ole green-stuff did tell us not to come here…" Jak gave his best friend a look that clearly told him to stop being a wimp. After all, if anything went wrong Jak was there to protect him right?

"Yeah that's so reassuring buddy. Don't get me wrong, you could give any Crocadog a run for it's orbs, and those little lurker toads and snakes 'n such out in the forest for sure…but there's supposed to be REAL lurkers out here! Big, ugly, hairy lurkers that…mph!" Hearing voices ahead of them, Jak slapped a hand over his best friend's mouth and motioned for him to be quiet. Silently they crept up to peer over the cliff edge and down into the basin below. The boy's glanced at each other with wide eyes at the amount of lurkers gathered below them.

Silence fell over everything like a thick blanket as two people floated, yes _floated_ down from the sky to address the lurkers. The floating people looked like elves, but they were _purple!_ Though both had rather long hair only one was distinguishably female. The other proved to be a man when he spoke to the lurkers after a time.

"Yes this silo is filled with dark eco!" The man took a rasping breath before continuing in his nasal voice. "Make perorations to open it at once. Send word to us at once as soon as it is open." The two floating elves seemed very exited at the thought, though Jak and Daxter didn't wait around to find out. They scrambled down the rock face and made to head back to warn Samos about the two strange elves. They quickly discovered however, that they were slightly lost.

"Ooooo! I knew this was a bad idea, Jak! Now we're lost on this cesspit of an island. Ack!" Jak tensed and turned around quickly, but relaxed when he saw that Daxter had just tripped. Daxter grumbled irritably and picked up the thing that had tripped him before standing up. Shaking the object he held it to his ear. Disappointed that nothing happened he tossed it from hand to hand.

"Stupid precursor junk. Ole greenie is always going on about how great the precursors were. Well if they were so great why'd they leave their crap lying around everywhere! I mean come on." He tossed the object to Jak, and it lit up when it touched his hands. "Wow! How'd ya do that?" Jak shook his head, meaning he didn't know. Noticing the large hole in the ground for the first time, Daxter peered over the edge.

" Ew! What is that dark ooze? You don't suppose that's dark eco do you Jak?" A large lurker jumping behind the boys, blocking their escape cut off any reply Jak could have made. Jak glared at it while Daxter ducked behind him slightly. The lurker gave a mighty roar and charged at them swinging a large club over it's head. Daxter screamed and darted to one side, while Jak rolled to the other. Spinning on heel the massive lurker roared again and started after Daxter.

With a yelp Daxter scrambled out of the way as the lurker crashed it's club down where he had been. Scuttling on all fours he didn't get very far before tripping over himself. The early morning light cast the lurker's shadow over him menacingly. The lurker had it's club raised high, ready to strike. Seeing his friend frozen in terror, and about to be smashed flat by an angry lurker, Jak looked down at the glowing precursor object in his hands. An impulse shot through him and he charged the lurker with the object, determined to save his best friend.

The Precursor artifact exploded on contact with the lurker, evaporating it. Daxter opened his eyes just in time to see Jak being hurtled into the hole with dark eco from the explosion. Daxter pulled him self to the edge of the hole faster then he had ever moved. He looked around franticly but saw nothing other then the smooth surface of the dark eco. No air bubbles, no ripple marks, nothing to suggest anything had ever fallen into it. Nothing that suggested any thing was alive beneath it's surface.

" Jak?" Daxter whispered in disbelief. It couldn't be true, it just couldn't! His best friend, his _only_ friend couldn't be…gone? Daxter just sat and stared into the dark eco for the longest time. Something brushing against his side made him come back to reality, if only slightly. A brightly glowing Muse chirped softly up at him. Wasn't this the Muse that the sculptor had lost not long ago, Daxter wondered? The Sculptor would be happy to see her; he should bring her back to him. Moving in a daze, Daxter scooped the muse into his arms and wandered away aimlessly.

Eventually He came upon the boat. The Muse had twisted herself around his shoulders, trying to comfort him. She could sense that there was something wrong with him, but was at a loss for what else to do. Slowly Daxter untied the boat from the dock and started the engine. Standing on Sandover's dock, the Fisherman was ready to scold the two boys that had stolen his boat. The hair on the back of his neck rose when only Daxter climbed out of the boat. Daxter walked past him as though he wasn't even there. The Muse jumped onto the Fisherman's shoulders and made an urgent noise. He put a comforting hand on her head and watched Daxter slowly make his way towards Samos' hut.

Hearing the boards outside his hut squeaking Samos smiled to himself. The boys were back from their trip to Misty Island. He had been readying his speech for them all week, and he knew what his older self had meant when he had told him that Daxter looked better as an Ottsel. Though the transformation only meant that their sheltered days in Sandover were coming to an end.

When the squeaking came to halt at his door, he took a deep breath and spun around to yell at them. Only to have the breath whoosh out of him as only Daxter stood there, looking dazed and definitely not an Ottsel. Daxter wasn't moving or talking, just standing there in his doorway staring blankly at the floor.

"Daxter" He tried "Where's Jak?" Daxter's hands tightened into fists at his side, but said nothing. A cold chill pushed it's way though Samos. He did not like where this was going. Sinking to the ground from where he has been floating near the ceiling, Samos was about to try addressing the young man again when Keira appeared in the door way.

"Daddy! I just spoke with the fisherman! He said that…Daxter!" She exclaimed. Noticing the blank look on his face she shrunk back a pace "Daxter?" she whispered. Seeing the normally lively boy so…dead was cause for alarm. Placing a hand on his adopted daughter's shoulder Samos acknowledged the Fisherman who was now standing out side, and tried talking to Daxter again.

"Daxter, this is very important my boy. Where is Jak?" Daxter's knuckles were white from how hard they were clenched. The air was thick and tense as they awaited an answer, hopefully not the one that they were expecting. That hope shattered like fragile glass when Daxter finally whispered his reply.

" Gone."

Samos pulled Keria into a tight embrace as she dissolved into sobs. The fisherman pulled his bandanna from his head and held it to his chest. The Muse that was still on his shoulders lowered her ears and whimpered at the sad atmosphere. Samos addressed the fisherman in a quiet voice.

"Can you take him back to his house? I will come see to him after I have taken care of my daughter…and told Jak's uncle the news." The fisherman bowed his head and somberly led Daxter out of the hut. Once they were out of sight Samos guided his Keira into her room and held her as she cried. Samos let a few tears of his own slide down his face. Not only for the future people of Haven city who may not even exist anymore, but for the quiet, smiling boy with bright blue eyes.


	2. Try

next chapter...still really nothing to say.

Disclaimer: The Dates on the tombstone are from the Shattered Legacy time line.The Disaster is an idea from the mind of Nashidesi, used with permission. The video game Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy and anything associated with it belongs to Naughty Dog INC.

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A week had gone by since…_then_. Marcus, the Fisherman that is, had brought Daxter back to his little hole in the ground and then gone to talk to the worried villagers that had seen them. Daxter's parents had died when he was really young. Not long before Jak and Samos arrived come to think of it. Heather, known as the crazy bird lady behind her back had taken him in for a while after that, but when he got older he moved back into his own place if ONLY to get away from all the birds.

So there was no one to bother him when the shock finally lifted and reality came crashing down on him. Until Samos wandered in around noon, but by then Daxter had cried himself to sleep. After confirming with a sweep of green eco that the boy was physically unharmed, Samos tossed a blanket over him and left.

The next day Samos led an expedition to Misty Island consisting of himself, Marcus, and Jak's uncle John. They were going to confirm Jak's death, and possibly bring back a body. No body was found, but they did find the lurkers trying to open the Dark eco silo. The three did their best to scare off the lurkers, but were driven back by the lurker's sheer numbers. Returning to Sandover empty handed and with bad news, preparations for Jak's funeral were made.

Two days after that the entire village gathered on the cliff face near Farmer luey's place. The sculptor had offered to make the tombstone, but Samos and John dictated what went on it. Samos had refused to shed light on the words he had put on the stone, and no one pushed him very hard. Daxter read the carved letters for what seemed like the thousandth time. The inscription was puzzling, and the strange symbol at the top even more so. It was inscribed:

Jak Mar.

Hero and savior to Haven city.

Born year 1,119 After Mar Died year 25 Pre-Mar

Who was Mar? And the dates certainly didn't match up either. Who had his best friend really been? Daxter was startled out of his musings by a hand on his shoulder. Keira sat down next to him and gazed at Jak's tombstone.

"Do…do you want to talk about it?" she tried hesitantly. Her voice was a bit horse from all the crying she had done the past few days.

"What's there to say? My best friend is dead, and it's all my fault." He whispered, his own voice much the same from lack of use. Keira's eyes widened.

"You can't mean that!" she exclaimed.

" Of course I do! Jak died because he was protecting me! If I hadn't of been such a, such a _coward _the he might still be here…" Daxter took a shaky breath to steady himself, and was surprised when Keira drew him into a light hug.

"Don't say that Daxter. Jak would never regret having saved a friend, even…even at the cost of his own life. That's just the selfless kind of person he is. Was…" Keira sniffled a little before continuing "He's probably looking down at us right now and shaking his head at how silly we're being, moping like this." Daxter tried to smile, but just got a twitch of his lips for the trouble. Sighing he settled for returning the hug.

"It's late…I'll…I'll walk you back to your house." Daxter offered pulling away. He didn't think she actually needed him to, but he didn't want to be alone right now. Apparently Keira knew how he felt or just shared his sentiments because she agreed as she got to her feet.

They walked silently past the dark houses of the village, but paused at hearing voices from the mayor's house.

" Absolute lunacy! How can you suggest such a thing Samos? Just after losing young Jak you suggest sending more to their death on that cursed island!" Curious as to what was going on the two snuck up to a window and listened in.

" I suggest no such thing! But if we do not do something about the lurkers we could have another Disaster on our hands!" The room fell silent no one wanted that. The Disaster had only ended a few scant years ago and wash fresh in their minds. A great earthquake had broken open various dark eco silos and vents causing the world to flood with said eco. Many, many people had died before the nightmare had ended.

"But what can we do? None of use are fighters, and those lurkers have some sort of cannon. Not to mention their sheer number!" Jak's uncle John spoke up tapping his walking stick on the ground.

"What about the other Sages? Surely they would lend us a hand?" the others voiced their agreement to Heather's question.

" I tried to contact the other sages as soon as we got back from Misty Island. But none of them have seen fit to turn on their ends of the Teleporter ring in quite sometime. More angry shouts flowed from the house as Daxter and Keira snuck away.

" This is terrible!" Keira exclaimed when they had reached her garage. She had lost her parents in the Disaster, and even though she had been very young she still missed them. For another one to happen again so soon… there was no way the world could cope.

"I know, but what could we do? It's not like we can just walk through Fire canyon to talk to the sages in person…" Daxter had also lost his parents in the disaster, but unlike Keira no one had found it in their heart to adopt him, he understood her distress. Keira hesitated a moment before laying a hand on the Zoomer she had built.

" We couldn't walk through it, but we could fly though it." Daxter gave her a questioning look. "I've been working on a heat shield for the Zoomer. It's almost finished too; all I need is two more Power cells and it's good to go."

" I forbid anything of the sort!" Samos floated above them angrily. " Jak was the only one skilled enough to perform such a feat, and I will not have either of you risking your lives over silly notions!" The two young teens shrank back from his fury. Satisfied that he would be obeyed Samos turned to leave.

"You're wrong." Samos whipped around to stare at Daxter. Daxter had his fists clenched at his side and was staring at the floor.

"What did you say young man?" Samos demanded. Daxter looked up at him with a fire in his eyes.

"I, I said that you're wrong green stuff! I can pilot that thing just as well as Jak could, and it would be silly if Keira didn't know how to fly her own machine!" Samos couldn't believe what he was hearing. Daxter, the village _coward_, was standing up to him.

"Well then, if you think that you are such hot stuff why don't you go clean out my green eco collectors on Sentinel beach!" Daxter scowled at him and shouted back.

"I will! I'll show you, and everyone else that I'm not a coward any more!" Seething, Daxter ran out of the garage. He could be just as brave as Jak, just as strong. Hadn't Daxter been the one to follow Jak everywhere on all his adventures? _Their _adventures? Hadn't he trained along side Jak when he was learning to fight; hadn't he climbed and jumped all over the forbidden forest right at his side all this time?

Daxter lost his footing on the uneven sand of Sentinel beach and fell. Clenching sand in his fist he took a shaky breath. Who was he kidding? He wasn't brave at all; if it hadn't been for Jak he would have never done any of those things. Jak…if he was here right now he would be laughing at Daxter for being so clumsy.

'Come on Dax' he would "say", 'stop lying down on the job! Samos will make us scrub his entire walkway again if we don't get done soon.' Then his friend would take hold out a hand to help him up, laughing his familiar silent laugh. 'Besides, the lurker snakes will get you if you lay there to long!' Lurker snakes?

Daxter rolled to his feet as the sand erupted skywards beside him. A lurker snake reared and hissed at him. He yelped and was about to turn tail and run when Samos' taunting voice rang through in his head. 'I knew you couldn't do it, you're to _afraid_.' Daxter curled his hand into a tight fist, _he was not afraid!_

The punch landed squarely on the lurker snake's head, causing it to explode into four tiny blobs of green eco. The blobs quivered for a moment before rushing into his body. Daxter blinked in confusion and patted himself with his hands. That had never happened to him before. Everything that Jak killed seemed to explode into the type of eco that he needed at the moment, but anything Daxter had managed to take down just laid there and rot like a good corpse.

Shaking his head Daxter continued along the beach at a slower pace then before. He encountered a similar anomaly when he took down a couple of Croca-dogs that had charged him. Not long after that he arrived at the green eco collectors. Small boulders covered the vents on the ground. Daxter reared his foot back and kicked one as hard as he could, sending it rolling a few feet. The pain in his foot was quickly soothed as the green eco vent burst to life again, bathing his out stretched foot in its healing energy.

He took care of the other vents in the same fashion, though hesitated when he came to the last one. The boulder here was bigger then the others. Making his decision, Daxter slammed his foot into the large rock. A stream of curses poured from his mouth as he hopped around holding his foot, the rock had not moved. After getting some green eco from one of the other vents to put on his foot, Daxter tried to shove the rock off. It rocked backwards a little, but not enough for Daxter to push it off.

Several minutes and failed attempts later Daxter was beginning to lose hope again when he remembered a time They had found a metal box in the Forbidden jungle. Jak had done that double jump thing of his, and twisted to crash down on the box with his hands. The box had broken apart easily, spilling precursor orbs everywhere. New hope filling his eyes Daxter jumped into the air and aimed his fist downward, only to fall on his face.

Getting back to his feet with a scowl Daxter tried to remember exactly how Jak had done that. Memories of Jak performing the move paraded past his eyes in great detail. After a few moments Daxter tried again, managing to do Jak's double jump to his brief delight, but still landed on his face.

'Its all about gravity' Daxter "heard" in his mind. 'Once you twist yourself around in the air, just let your self fall. Don't force it.' Daxter looked around warily. Upon seeing no one he decided he was just hearing things…though a little advice never hurt. He took a deep breath and preformed the jump again. This time though, he just let himself fall instead of trying to put any force into it.

The rock exploded into dust and small chunks upon contact, a power cell bouncing off to the side. Green eco washed over him in waves as he landed on his hands right on top of the vent. Daxter vaulted off his hands and onto his feet, shaking the cold feeling of the green eco off. The power cell glowed brightly in the darkness a little ways off.

With one exited leap Daxter had the power cell in his hands. He did it, and the precursors had rewarded him with a power cell for his efforts. Stuffing the glowing artifact into his pocket, Daxter began making his way back to Samos' hut. Old grandpa-green-log-on-the-head was bound to be shocked when Daxter shoved his success under his beard. He would give the power cell to Keira first though.

The stars twinkled brightly as the precursors looked down on their children; perhaps not all was lost just yet.


	3. Toys

Another chapter, it's kinda short but I hope you enjoy it anyway... and remember: Reviews are a writers lifeblood!

enjoy.

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Samos was not happy when Daxter returned triumphant. With a shadow of his usual cocky grin on his face, Daxter had told him of his success.

"Well, don't go doing it again! It was obviously a fluke, all of the lurker animals are bound to be asleep at this hour."

"ey! What kind of thank you is that? You've been moaning about those eco collectors for days old man! If it was so easy, why hadn't you done something about it yourself!"

" Because SOME of us have better things to do then run around playing hero!"

" Oh right, I pulled a couple of rocks outta holes in the ground. _how heroic_" Daxter folded his arms and glared at the green menace. He hadn't bothered to tell Samos about the croca-dogs and lurker snake, though his pride was screaming at him to. Being the stiff old fart he was, Samos was bound to check for bodies or something, and would raise questions when non were found. Answers would be nice, but not from_him_.

"Well if you think that you're up to a 'real challenge', go find a way to turn on the blue Eco vents that have been capped off. Keira has mentioned that she traced the pipelines as far as the Forbidden Jungle, so start there. Now, get out of here!" Samos watched him go with am angry look. He didn't know what had gotten into that boy's head lately. A trip to the Blue eco temple should get rid of all those ridiculous ideas though. He knew for a fact that only a channeler could even get through the front doors…and Daxter was not a channeler.

Keira met Daxter on the boardwalk and pulled him into her garage. She had heard her father shouting at Daxter from in there and wanted to congratulate him.

" Daxter…I hate to say this but I didn't think that you could do it. I see now that it was foolish of me to say that, after all you had to have some sort of skill to follow Jak around like that constantly!"

"Er…thanks?" Daxter wasn't sure if that was a complement or not.

"oh, that sounded weird didn't it…I mean…it's just…" Daxter shook his head.

"It's okay, I know what you mean. To tell you the truth I didn't think I could do it either…say being the sage's daughter you should know things about eco right?"

" I have picked a few things up from being around Daddy so much, why?" Daxter bit his lip, unsure if he should continue.

"When I was on my way to them Eco collectors I encountered some trouble. Nothing I couldn't handle of course. Just a Lurker snake and some Croca-dogs but…Instead of well[I_dying_[/I, they became Green eco blobs. Like when Jak would kill things…" Daxter lowered his eye to the floor. The fact that Jak wasn't there anymore still hurt, even though it had been a week. Keria's eyes widened.

" But daddy said that only happened to channelers!"

"I know, but I'm not, right? Can you think of another reason?"

"no…but I could ask daddy later." Daxter's frown deepened.

"In that case I'll just pass it off as one of those things I'm not supposed to know." He turned to leave but Keira caught his arm.

"I understand that you and daddy are not on the best of terms, but he could help!" he was about to snap at her, but the pleading look in her eyes made him sigh instead.

"I'll go to him myself if something else pops up ok? Now leggo of my arm, I've got some blue eco vents to turn on."

" I wont tell daddy if you go home and get some sleep before going into the jungle. If you can't sleep at least wait until daylight." Daxter agreed, seeing no other way out of it. He was kind of tired now that he thought about it. Some rest might do him some good.

The short trip back to his house was uneventful. Not caring enough to do anything else Daxter flopped down on his bed and pulled the covers up. He dreamed of giant orange rats in clothing of all things that night.

The next morning saw Daxter rummaging around in his closet. He didn't have much, but what he did have was jealously hiding what he was searching for. Most of it was odds and ends that he and Jak had found on their "adventures". Jak's uncle had pretty much forbid Jak from bringing junk into the house, so Daxter ended up with all of it.

A triumphant yelp followed him as he tumbled out of the small closet, prize in hand. Said prize was one of two strange precursor items he and Jak had found. It was a flimsy pouch of some kind on a belt. Keira had had a field day when they brought the items to her for inspection. Though cloth like, the item was made of precursor metal. Jak had fashioned his into a backpack, but Daxter had tossed his into storage, as there was really no need for it.

Strapping the belt to his waist Daxter paused to admire himself in the mirror he kept in his bedroom for just that purpose. The dark circles under his eyes gave him a start. Wincing, Daxter suddenly understood why Keira seemed to be worrying about him so much. To make it all worse his hair was a mess and his cloths were dirty and torn. He hadn't changed them since…then. He honestly hadn't thought of it, to many other things on his mind.

Moving back over to his closet he dug out his spare set of cloths and 'freshened up'. There was virtually no difference between this set of cloths and the other ones; save the tunic was a darker shade of red. Fully groomed and felling slightly better in cleaner cloths, Daxter stepped into the morning sunlight.

Keira was waiting for him on the small fountain near the mayor's house.

" I'm glad you took my advice and got some rest Daxter." She told him before handing him a precursor orange tube of some sort. " I call this the Extendable Eco Spear, EES for short. When you press that button on the side there, it extends into a full size Bo staff. Exposing it to eco will fill the special cells I made with that eco type, to create an eco blade on the end. You can switch eco types at anytime by pressing the button again. A full charge of Eco should last for about ten minutes when in use." Daxter pressed the button, causing the EES to extend to its full length. He swung it experimentally a few times to test it.

" I also want to give you this, it's a communicator. This way daddy and I can keep in touch with you, even when you're far away." Keira sighed. " I wish I had given these to you and Jak before…you know. They just weren't finished yet. Oh yeah, to retract the EES, hold the button down for five seconds." Daxter nodded and pressed the button. Once the EES was back to its compact size he shoved it into the pouch at his side.

"Thanks for the stuff sweetheart, but I hope you know it ain't my birthday yet." The joke sounded pathetic even to his ears, but Keira smiled anyway.

"Just be careful Daxter. I don't know what I would do if I lost you too, annoying as you are." Hard as he tried Daxter couldn't force a smile to his face.

"I'll be fine, I taught Jak everything he knew yanno." With a wave he turned and began the trek to the Forbidden jungle. Keira being so nice to him all of a sudden was kind of creepy. Nice, but creepy. Daxter pulled out the EES and extended it again, admiring it. He knew how to use a staff, the basics anyway. When they were younger, he and Jak had bugged Samos until he finally taught them to use one. Rather, he taught Jak and later Jak taught him when Samos wasn't watching. The old Sage always seemed to have it in for him.

A flash of electric blue caught his eye as he approached the unofficial entrance to the Jungle. Three sparking balls of blue eco lay on the ground in front of him. Blinking Daxter wondered if they had always been there, and he had just missed them before somehow. Deciding not to question such things as eco oddities, Daxter pointed the EES at them eager to see it in 'spear mode'. The balls quivered before flying into the staff, much like the green eco had into Daxter earlier. The ends of the EES seemed to catch with blue fire as the eco settled, glowing ferociously.

"Okay, that's officially cool." Daxter declared staring in awe at his new weapon. Deciding to test it further he retracted the staff into its compact size, and then extended it again. The ends flared to life brilliantly, like a controlled explosion of blue lightning. For the first time since _then_,Daxter smiled. The grin was manic and didn't last long, but for anyone who cared to notice, it was progress. Not that there was someone to notice at the mouth of the forbidden jungle.

Stalking forward into the jungle, Daxter didn't have to wait long before a lurker snake lunged from the trees at him. With a whoosh, the EES cut it cleanly in two. After the resulting green eco had had enough time to fly at him, Daxter continued deeper into the jungle. Anything that tried to attack him got a nasty taste of concentrated blue eco sliced through it.


	4. Terror

Next chapter! About the end part...mmm well maybe I should say this at the end?

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Daxter had been crossing the second bridge in the Forbidden Jungle when the world came crashing down. Or rather he came crashing down on the world as a rotted plank in the old bridge gave way. With a terrified yell he splash-landed in the river below. The river was thankfully deep in this area effectively preventing Daxter from breaking anything due to the long drop.

Strong hands yanked Daxter out of the water when he broke the surface, and deposited him on the small wooded bridge he had apparently just missed. Coughing up the small amount of water that he had managed to inhale was easy due to the harsh blow that was dealt to his back.

"You okay there lad? Scared me as well as all the fish with that stunt." Looking up at his "rescuer", Daxter found no other then Marcus the Fisherman. Wringing the water from his hair, Daxter nodded. He hated it when his hair was wet; it lost all of its gravity defying powers and hung limply around his neck.

"M'fine, thanks anyway though." It was then Daxter noticed the large basket and net the Fisherman had with him. " Say, what are you doing fishing out here? This river is hardly full of good fish, with all the eels and them bitey fish things."

"Them 'bitey fish things' be piranhas, and I be fishing out here because a lurker shark took a huge bite outta my fishing boat and sunk it. Was all I could do to get my self back to shore alive. Thankfully that blasted shark was more interested in eating that's days catch then me. So here I am, scooping up tiny fish with a little net, and look what I have to show for it!" The fisherman ripped the top off of his basket, displaying its meager contents.

"If only there were a place I could get to the ocean from, then I could do some real fishing!" Daxter thought for a moment on that. Most of the food the villagers ate came from Marcus and Farmer Luey. Anything other then fish, yakkow, and vegetables were a delicacy. Still though…

"I think I might be able to help ya there, as thanks for pullin' me outta the river you see." Seeing that he had definitely caught the Fisherman's attention Daxter continued. "There's this small patch of land downstream from here that sits not far out in the ocean. The bitey fish, 'scuse me, 'Piranhas' don't go out that far so you can swim to it without much trouble. Seeing as I happen to be heading that way my self, I could take you there."

"That'd be great, Daxter! If its what you say, I don't think I can thank you enough. Although…what are you doing out here anyway?" Marcus gathered up his fishing equipment and followed Daxter to the other side of the bridge, where the proceeded down stream along the shore line.

" Samos sent me out here to get some plant for him." It was a lie, but Marcus didn't need to know that. Despite Samos having more or less ordering him to go to the Precursor ruins, the fisherman would probably haul him off back to the village if he knew his true destination. What was the term Jak's uncle had used? Oh yes, they didn't need to be 'playing' with such a dangerous thing as precursor technology. Hence why Daxter's closet was full of it.

Marcus thankfully made his own assumption that Samos had sent Daxter out here to get his mind off of what ever had happened the day of Jak's death. Daxter had told no one how Jak had actually died, no matter who or how hard they had tried. Marcus felt partly responsible for the whole thing, as it was by his boat they managed to get there anyway. He should have tied better knots, or removed the Powercell, or [Isomething[/I…but when all was said and done there was no way he could have known.

Not another word was said until they reached their destination. Pointing at the small island, Daxter warned him that the water was deep. Not deep enough for a lurker shark, but deep enough for other things.

"Not a problem at all lad! Deep water means lotsa big fish!" Marcus clapped Daxter on the back, sending him into the river. Sputtering, Daxter glared at him.

"You're welcome, really" He said a little sarcastically.

"Er, sorry about that. Don't know my own strength." Daxter sighed.

"I need to get to the other bank anyway happy fishing." With that Daxter began to swim to the other side. Marcus felt his heart clench at the solemn reply. It was terrible how Jak's death had affected the boy. Just a week ago, Daxter would have yelled and made a big deal about something like being pushed into the river, but now it was like he was barely the same person anymore.

Once on the other side, Daxter stood on the bank with a blank look on his face. He had intended to use the precursor launcher to jump to the above cliff, where the entrance to the ruins was. It was only now he realized that he couldn't operate the darn thing without being able to channel blue eco. Sighing, Daxter pulled out the EES to let it absorb the blue eco that was floating next to the launcher. He was certain it had never been there before, but who was he to question a good thing?

As he was turning away to find another way to the top, Daxter noticed that the Precursor launcher had activated. Once again deciding not to question, Daxter jumped onto it…and nothing happened. Looking at the distorted air around his feet, Daxter knew it was still on. Jumping again with the same result, he happened to glance at the EES that he still held, and its Blue eco enflamed tip.

Suddenly Daxter had a crazy idea. Flipping the EES so it was point down, he thrust it downwards onto the launcher. He left his stomach behind as he was sent rocketing into the air with a strong lurch. He didn't even have time to scream as he crashed landed onto the cliff above, EES still in hand.

"Gotta work on them landings" Daxter muttered to him self as he picked him self up from the ground. Avoiding the large vines that waved lazily about he climbed the step to stand in front of the closed door. Daxter eyed the door before jabbing the business end of the EES into it. With a whoosh the door obediently sprung open.

"Now that's handy! Note to self: give Keira free run of the Precursor junk in my closet." Striding through the door, Daxter retracted the EES once he saw that the lifts were still operational from the times he and Jak had first activated them. Leaping onto the first as it reached ground level, Daxter repeated the process until he stood on the shelf that contained the open Blue eco vent.

Charging the EES to its maximum, he put it away again and continued to the very top. Once there Daxter paused to calm himself, he had almost fallen from that last moving platform. Once he was breathing regularly again, Daxter stepped on the switch that would lower the current platform into the belly of the ruins.

Daxter knew exactly where to go once the lift had stopped. There was only one door that remained shut no matter what he and Jak had done. The symbol above the door led them to believe that they needed a blue eco charge to open it, but they could never get from the vent outside back to the door in time to open it. Extending the EES, Daxter thrust it at the door and swelled with triumph when it opened.

Keeping the EES out in case of danger Daxter proceeded through. It was surprisingly bright for being underground, if his calculations were correct, and he had no trouble seeing. The floor was missing in places, but thankfully there were working platforms to carry him across.

Eventually Daxter came to a large room that looked more like a jungle then the outside jungle did. Large leaves and vines were everywhere, sunlight filtered down from holes in the roof causing the plant life to cast large and lazy shadows. Beautifully colored flowers littered the topmost vines, closest to the sun. A single flower of gigantic proportions towered over all else, not yet in bloom.

"Aw come on! Knowing my luck the stupid switch is buried under all that crap!" using the EES Daxter began moving pieces of undergrowth around, cutting a path and looking for anything that resembled a switch.

Daxter stiffened as a shadow fell over him, and a low growl sounded from behind him. Terrified, he slowly turned around and came face to face with a mouth full of large sharp teeth. The teeth reared back before snapping at him, digging into his middle with its teeth as it lifted him into the sky.

Screaming in pain and terror, Daxter blindly lashed out with the EES. He crashed to the ground with the things teeth still dug into him. Forcing his eyes open, Daxter saw that the EES was buried deep with in the creature's skull. The next thing he noticed was that the thing was some type of plant. The sound of heavy things crashing to the ground stirred Daxter again briefly before his vision went black.

-----!!!-----!

When Daxter awoke, moonlight was filtering down from the holes in the ceiling. Shakily drawing himself into a sitting position, he ran a weak hand over his chest. There were bloody holes in his tunic where the plant had grabbed him, but no wounds underneath. Not even scars, though Daxter was sitting in a dried pool of his own blood. The right side of his face was encrusted with it, and it refused to come off. It was then he noticed that he still had the EES in his hand.

Peeling himself off the ground, he used it to help himself stand. His mind felt fuzzy, like he was dreaming and he found it very hard to stand without the aid of the EES. Surveying his surroundings Daxter found a large round thing with walkways curving around it instead of the plant life from before. Atop the structure was a single glowing Powercell.

Using the EES as a walking stick, he made his way to stand on top of the round thing.

Daxter grabbed the floating Powercell and placed it in the pouch at his side without much thought. Not that he seemed to be capable of any of that at the moment. The ground sunk abruptly, sending Daxter tumbling to the floor. There was a loud humming sound as the walls and floor began to glow with blue designs. With a flash the teleporter ring Daxter had fallen conveniently in front of came to life.

Mind still hazy from blood loss Daxter struggled to his feet again, leaning heavily on the EES. A fuzzy thought told him that Samos had a teleporter ring too. Moving as though on autopilot Daxter stumbled through the ring. Not a moment later he tumbled out on the other side.

There was a gasp and suddenly someone was lifting him into a sitting position. Everything was growing dark again, though an unmistakable flash of green flesh brought his accomplishment to the forefront of his mind. There were voices, but as none of them were making any sense, Daxter added his own input.

" I turned on the blue eco." he slurred before falling once again into the sweet embrace of unconsciousness.

-------------------------------------

For those of you wondering what the heck just happend, when the plant monster died it became Green eco just like everything else that Dax and Jak kill in Jak one. Thats how Daxter got healed, he of course doesn't know that so I couldn't put that part in story. Also, the ending is kinda choppy because Daxter is more or less still unconscious from blood loss, he wont even remember that part later.

Remember: Reviews are a writer's inspiration. If you have something to say, let us know!


	5. Pawn

I would like to say, this is a non pairings fiction. I had someone ask (not here) and I just wanted to let you know that it isn't. Sorry Daxter\Keira fans.

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Staring at the ceiling, Daxter slowly came to.

He felt like he had been upside down for a long time, or underwater. It took a few moments after he regained consciousness for the feeling to go away, and to form enough coherency to realize where he was.

Sitting up, Daxter looked around Samos' hut. No one else was around, except for the plant in the corner that gave him the creeps for some reason. Thankfully, he was on the small bench and not the floor. Not that there was much of a difference, the thought was nice though.

Slowly rising to his feet, Daxter winced when his cloths scraped against him. His entire right side from his face down to his feet was encrusted with…mud?

How had that happened?

Thinking hard, Daxter realized that the last thing he remembered before waking up in Samos' hut was being in an overgrown green house. Perhaps that's where he got all muddy…some how. Skirting around the plant, Daxter made his way out of the door and down the ramps. He was going to jump in the ocean at Sentinel beach to wash this crap off.

Keira, who was in her garage like always, was shocked to see Daxter walking past.

"Hey! What are you doing up? Daddy said you would be out for a few hours at least!" She called out to him.

Daxter blinked, and turned towards her.

"What'cha talkin' bout sweet cheeks? Did moss-for-underpants drug me or something?"

"What? No! You tumbled through the warp gate last night, covered in blood and barely conscious! Don't you remember Daxter?"

Looking down at his stiff cloths with wide eyes, he examined them closer. There were tears in his shirt that were blood-encrusted at the edges, though he didn't seem to be wounded anywhere. Looking back at Keira, he asked promptly what the hell had happened.

"We were hoping you could tell us young man."

Samos came floating down from the sky in his usual fashion, though he looked more bewildered then angry. He had been out checking the eco lines, and to his astonishment, all of the caped blue eco vents were now active. How had Daxter done such a thing? Only a blue eco channeler could get into that temple…unless there was some secret way that he was unaware of? Yes, that must be it.

"…The last thing I remember is walking into an indoor jungle. Then waking up here…all cruddy an' stuff." He picked at his stiff clothing irritably. Couldn't have been to concerned if they just left him like this.

"An…indoor jungle?" what on Precuria was that boy babbling about?

"yeah, inside them ruins in the 'forbidden jungle'. Oh yeah! Keira, babe, you know that you're awesome, right?"

Keira raised an eyebrow at the sudden compliment, but didn't have a chance to say anything as Daxter pulled the EES from the pouch at his side.

"Not only is this baby a dream in the kitchen, it can activate all that precursor junk!"

"I never thought of using it that way, using an machine holding eco to activate precursor artifacts…Think of the mysteries we could unlock! Oh if only I had more materials." Keira had gotten pretty far on her own, with the occasional help from Jak's channeling powers, in unlocking the secrets of precursor technology. Now that Jak was…gone…she needed alternative means to those ends.

"It just so happens I have some precursor junk laying around. I was going to let you have it but now seeing on how you just left me like this" He gestured to his blood encrusted right side "I'm not so sure"

Keira's eyes narrowed in disbelief. [IDaxter[/I had precursor artifacts just laying around some where? Not likely, he would have used them ages ago to try and bribe her into going out with her. In a state of depression or not, Daxter was still a creep. Steadily becoming as useful as Jak had been, but a creep nonetheless.

"I see you don't believe me, your loss hot stuff." Putting the EES back into its place, his hand brushed against something. Grabbing that instead, he pulled it out to look at it. A single power cell glowed merrily in his hand. A sly grin crossed his face, the first since…since [IJak's death[/I as he held it out to Keira.

"A power cell to keep ya wondering. Now I need a bath, badly. Bye!" Running off before the Sage or his daughter could hassle him some more, Daxter didn't stop running until he collapsed into the shallow water of sentinel beach. Struggling to catch his breath, he reflected that running the entire way might not have been the best idea.

He had to get away from them though.

Daxter had seen right though their façade of actually caring about what happened to him. Everyone had been so nice to him since he had come back from Misty Island alone, except for Samos'. Then again Samos wasn't nice to anyone.

Letting the tide pull him into the deeper water, he berated himself for thinking that they were concerned for him…that Keira had really believed in him. That one look back at her garage had said it all. She had only been pitying him when he had rushed off in a blind rage the day before.

Scrubbing at his face angrily, Daxter watched the water cloud with blood out of one eye. There was so much of it, he had obviously been hurt somewhere, yet they just left him there while they went on with their business. They probably didn't even check him for injury. He also knew that there was no way Samos had healed him, according to Keira he was still conscious when they found him. Had Samos healed him, he wouldn't have fallen unconscious to begin with.

Peeling his tunic off, he scrubbed it in the water with furious motions. They were just [Iusing[/I him to get to the other sages. Other then Jak, Daxter was the only one who could move the Zoomer in more then just a straight line. Keria had only built the thing to impress Jak, and so that [Ihe[/I could take [Iher[/I around on it.

Jak…If only he were here, things would be different. Jak would never let them use him like this. Ever since the day Daxter had met him, Jak had stuck up for him, had been genuinely nice to him. As long as Jak was around, the adults left him alone. Didn't call him names or kick him around or, or…

Daxter sighed and looked at the sky wistfully, he missed his best friend. Tugging his wet tunic back over his head, Daxter waded back to shore dejectedly. The pouch at his side lurched violently as the communicator Keira had given him flew out of it to hover in front of his face.

"Daxter! Thanks to that last power cell you gave me, the heat shield for the zoomer is finally ready! Daddy wants to get in contact with the other sages as soon as possible, so meet me in fire canyon as soon as you can ok? Oh, and by the way, thanks for turning the blue eco vents back on."

Just as suddenly as it had come, the Communicator put its self away.

See? What had he just been brooding about was already under way. He had obviously been severely injured in the past twenty-four hours, and already they wanted him to fly through a flaming death trap?

Alright, fine.

They wanted a back up hero? They had one, but he was in this for himself. To prove to them that he wasn't just a toy to play with until it broke, and to prove that Jak's choice in a best friend was no error.

-----------------------------------------------

A welcomed ice cold blast of air rushed over Daxter as he plowed through another cooling balloon, catching some major air time in the process. Angling the Zoomer so it landed on one of the precursor metal ramps that littered the canyon floor instead of the lava, Daxter wondered where Samos got his information. Hot enough to melt precursor metal his ass, the stuff was jutting out everywhere here.

Although, the fact that it wasn't hot enough to melt precursor metal could very well be the very thing keeping him from being nothing but ash right now. Yanking sharply on the handlebars to avoid the rocks that suddenly shot out from the ground, He shot into the air again on a particularly strong up draft.

Landing with a grunt, Daxter saw a wall of gray rock not far ahead. Either that was a dead end and he was doomed to burning failure, or this horrible hell of molten lava and random pit falls was coming to an end. Either way, he was ready to get out of the scalding heat.

Gunning the engine, Daxter caught air off of another ramp and sailed through the air, hitting another balloon in the process. Not a minute later saw him jumping off of the Zoomer and onto the ground beside it. Quite thankfully, the wall of rock had a gap in it with a conveniently placed Zoomer-telleporter-thingie.

Another thing Daxter decided not to question.

A short walk later saw Daxter in what he assumed was the Blue sages lab, judging by the dormant teleporter ring, and by the precursors was it a mess. Things over turned, paper everywhere, rock village being bombarded with flaming boulders…whoa wait, back up there.

Getting closer to the window, Daxter saw that Rock village was indeed being bombarded with over sized flaming rocks. He noticed most of them were landing in the ocean, but still. Making use of the convenient telescope next to him, He quickly spotted the problem. A giant lurker from the looks of it, was hurling them off the side of a cliff onto the village.

Disturbed by the thought, Daxter picked up one of the near by papers and started reading. He had gotten about two paragraphs down before his head started to hurt from all of the big words. Glancing back out the window, Daxter decided to go check out the village instead. They had to have at least some idea of what was going on here.

Daxter gave a final look over his shoulder at the dormant teleporter ring on his way out. Samos had told him to turn it on as soon as he got there so that he could take to the Blue sage. Smirking in a satisfied way, Daxter continued down to the village…with out turning it on.

The Blue Sage wasn't in right now anyway.


	6. Wandering

Chapter six! Huzza!

Not as long as I wanted it, but here it is.

Enjoy.

----------------------------------------------------

" So let me get this straight, you went up there to kill that thing, it kicked your ass, and you been down here _crying _ever since?"

The pathetic excuse for a warrior Daxter was talking to nodded his head.

" That's just pathetic man! No wonder you got yer keyster handed to ya!"

" Oh, and I suppose YOU think you can do better?" This guy had some major issues here. That monster couldn't be that tough if the loser was still alive. Although…

Daxter looked up at the roaring menace now know as Klaw as it threw another flaming boulder into the ocean. Shivering, Daxter turned to the warrior again.

"Of course I can! Taken on bigger things then him before, just let me find a way up there and he'll be beggin' for mercy in no time!" So what if those bigger things had only been in his dreams?

He could so do this.

Yup, no doubts here…perhaps he should explore them precursor ruins of shore first? To get in the fighting mood you know.

" You just put that there board walk back together and I'll mosey on up there. Seeing how I'm a brave hero and stuff, I'm gonna be down in them precursor ruins while I wait. So you know, get to it."

Striding off in what he hoped was a cool, confident manner; he ignored the strange man in a barrel and headed down to the floating boardwalk that lead to the ruins. A few quick jumps later and he was standing inside the small part of the ruin that was above water. He could just chill here for a while until he though of a way around Klaw.

Plopping down in the middle of the floor, Daxter jumped up again just as quickly as the floor began dropping sharply downwards. Despairingly, he watched as the top got farther and farther away, just his luck to get stuck on a freaking moving platform.

When the lift finally stopped, Daxter was not pleased to see that he was completely underwater. Hearing a click below him, Daxter looked down to see the button that he had sat on. A spark of hope lit inside him as he stepped on it again, a spark that died just as fast when nothing happened.

"Great. Just great, stuck down here with nothing but precursor JUNK for company."

Sighing, Daxter began walking towards the only door his he saw.

-----------------------------------------

Clutching the glowing EES in a tight grip, Daxter looked cautiously around the corner. He didn't know how long he had been down here, but ever since he had gone though that door he had been dumped in electrified water, nearly dumped in dark eco, chased by freaking mutant Lurkers of which seemed to be immune to the EES with out eco in it, and subject to more moving platforms then he would care to remember. On the bright side, he had found fifty precursor orbs and three power cells.

Right now, a mutant lurker that had been chasing him around for the better part of ten minutes was stalking about in the other room. Daxter was hiding in a small alcove the lurker hadn't noticed yet, and was waiting for his chance to make another run for it. He could see a large open door way across the room from him, and the second the Lurker turned it's back he bolted for it.

Much to his horror, the lurker saw him when he was about half way to the opening.

With an enraged roar the lurker charged after Daxter, waving its fists about. Although, to its credit it sounded just as surprised as Daxter did when its feet got knocked out from under it on the slippery floor.

Yelling their heads off, both Daxter and the Lurker did their best to dodge the white-hot parts of the floor that stuck up from the rest of it. Seeing the floor suddenly drop of into darkness ahead, Daxter franticly jammed the EES into the floor to slow himself down.

Daxter stopped just inches from the edge, large gouges in the floor from the EES trailing behind him. The lurker on the other hand, had no such luck as it careened off the edge at full speed into a pool of Dark eco below.

Standing, Daxter jumped as a large metal door slammed down over the entrance to the slide, cutting off his escape.

Cursing the precursors in rather colorful language, Daxter looked up, and up, and UP. The small room he was in now had virtually no ceiling in sight, though he could faintly make out the glow of blue eco blobs farther up.

A metal path way wound its way around the room in an upward spiral. Seeing no other choice, Daxter leapt the gap to the first platform…and nearly lost his footing as it jerked downwards.

"WARNING, DARK ECO LEVELS RISING"

Ice replaced Daxter's blood as an automated voice accompanied the bubbling sound beneath him. Screaming inventive profanity at the precursors, he scrambled up onto the rest of the plat form, and began running for his life.

The spiral was steep, though thankfully not as slippery as the slide had been. Nonetheless Daxter was gasping for breath before long, though he dared not stop.

When he finally reached the top, he was more then elated to see an active precursor launcher. With the dark eco nearly upon him Daxter wasted no time jabbing the EES into it.

Hurtling upwards, Daxter heard the noise of automated doors sliding together right before he began falling downwards again. Hitting the floor of the new room with an "oof!" he struggled to catch his breath. He didn't even notice the room had been moving upwards until a door opened to his left, blinding him with sunlight.

"The light…it burns!"

Daxter wheezed, covering his eyes. Once the burning in both his lungs and eyes had stopped, he pushed him self to his feet. Retracting the EES and putting it away, Daxter walked over to the doorway, and stared out at rock village.

"Finally! I thought I'd never get out'a that place!"

With a happy whistle, Daxter stepped out onto the conveniently placed rock forms, and made his way back into the village. Once back in the area with the warrior and barrel man, he was ambushed by said people.

" You raised part of the sunken city, now that's impressive! Say, how handy are ya' with a zoomer?"

Pushing the odd barrel man out of the way, the warrior gave Daxter an appraising look.

" No one who's gone into that sunken city ever came back out before...but you! You might just have what it takes to bring that _monster_ up there down. I'll put the board walk back together for you."

Shoving his way past the warrior, Barrel man spoke up again.

" While he's doing that, I think you could be my big come back!"

Scratching his head, Daxter looked between the two in confusion.

" I can see why no one else got outta there alive, though it would have been nice ta' know that _before hand_…but what are you yapping on about?"

The man in a barrel grinned and rubbed his hands together.

" There's a valley not far from here called the Precursor basin, and in it is a little time challenge. What I need you to do is get on a Zoomer and make it to the end before time runs out and Pay day!"

"Yeah, that's nice and all but what do I get outta this?"

The Warrior rolled his eyes and moved over to the broken pieces of boardwalk to begin his work. Barrel man on the other hand, was short of words.

"Er, get? What do YOU get? …The respect of breaking the record?"

He sounded hopeful, but Daxter wasn't buying it.

" Yeah, right. Go find another suck'a." Turning to the Warrior and ignoring the Barrel mans stuttered excuses, Daxter called out to him.

"Hey! I'm gonna head up to the Blue sages lab for a while, let me know when you're done and I'll go kick that things ass!"

Not waiting for a response, Daxter began making his way through the village again.


	7. Wit

He was running out of time and he knew it

NOTE! I added more to this chapter, read it again and be amazed. 3

Guess who's still alive? I have NOT given up on this thing. It's just that this isn't my only writing project by far. The others will most likely never be posted here as I can't take full credit, but they are just as important.

Please enjoy.

I do not own the game Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy or anything related to it. Naughty Dog Inc. does.

--

He was running out of time and he knew it.

Daxter had been in the Blue sage's lab for over an hour, franticly searching for something that would help him defeat that giant lurker. So far, the only thing he had found that looked remotely helpful was blueprints and some notes.

The Blue sage had apparently been building some sort of machine before he disappeared that would shoot the monster with a large amount of blue eco, effectively electrocuting it. Unfortunately, it was never finished…and Daxter had no mechanical skills what so ever.

Keira on the other hand, could probably take one look at the thing and it would start working. Problem being, Daxter refused to call her for help. Looking at the blueprints for what had to be the billionth time, he contemplated his options.

There had to be a way out of this…

"Hey Kid!"

Daxter spun around with a yelp to see the Warrior standing at in the doorway.

"I'm done fixing the walkway, you ready to go kick some monster butt?"

Daxter clutched the blueprints to his chest, and stared at the man.

" Well, er, that is you see….I hate to admit it, but that monster is just to big for one guy to take alone. That sage of yours was working on this doohickey before he up and went, to weaken it yanno. Problem is, it's just not finished yet!"

The warrior narrowed his eyes at him.

" You said you could take him!"

"Buddy, he's standing in freaking LAVA like it was a bubble bath! What am I gonna do, throw rocks at him? Wait…throw rocks at….Hey I've got an idea big guy."

The Warrior gave him a look of disbelief, but said nothing. Daxter walked over to the window and pointed to the Lurker that was terrorizing the small village.

"You see that there thingie on its arm? That's what it's using to make them boulders right? Well, if we can jam it, he might blow up! Or something…"

" And how are you going to do that, you can't just climb up on it."

"Well uh…uh…"

Daxter had to think fast, that hunk of rusted metal might be a wuss, but he could probably kick his skinny ass into next month. Looking out the window again, he noticed an odd blob in the stormy area off to the right of the giant lurker.

" Hold that thought"

Grabbing the telescope, Daxter swung it around to look in that general direction. In the middle of the storm was what looked to be a lurker balloon, a big one too.

"There! We'll just commander that there balloon and fly over to 'im! Critter's got horrible aim, so we'd be safe enough."

The warrior glared at him again.

" Well, YOU have fun trekking through the swamps to do that."

" Eheh heh heh…."

--

" Man, this place stinks!"

Daxter had been in the swamps for roughly an hour, and not once had he ceased to complain about the smell. Or the fact that he seemed to be going in circles.

" I mean, seriously! I've seen that same rock five times already! FIVE I TELL YOU!" He shouted to the sky. One may wonder why he was making so much noise in an obviously lurker infested area. The simple reason being that he was quite nervous, all alone in dangerous, unfamiliar (and smelly) territory. Pulling himself up onto a nearby rock, Daxter irritably shook the muck from his feet.

"What was I thinking? Stealing a Lurker balloon just to smash it into another Lurker? That's just stupid, it'd never work! I don't even know how to work the thing, and I doubt I can just waltz in and say somethin' like ' Yeah, this is yer captain speaking. Change course will ya?'." Daxter sighed and gazed into the dark sky solemnly.

" What would you do, Jak? Probably just go kick it's ass straight up, using some sort of nifty eco powers or somethin'" Sighing again, Daxter was about to jump down from the rock and continue trekking through the swamp when something caught his eye. The swamp was surrounded on all sides by high cliffs, and at the top of on of them something glittered in a ray of sun that had managed to peek through the clouds.

Squinting curiously, Daxter tried to make out the source of the glint. After a few minutes, he reached into his pack for a small telescope he, ahem, "borrowed" from the Blue sage's lab. Putting the device to his eye, he aimed it at the cliff face. Jolting slightly as he recognized it as the Cannon from the schematics in the Blues sage's lab, Daxter wondered what it was doing THERE of all places, instead of somewhere more easily accessed.

Moving the telescope slowly, Daxter studied the cliff below the cannon. There were no steps or a ladder of any kind, ('why would there be? Sages could fly.' Daxter thought dully. ) Though there looked to be some kind of pulley system attached to the cliff face, most likely for getting the parts up there. Although if it could support the weight of machinery then maybe….

Nodding with determination, Daxter snapped the scope closed and put it away, jumping to his feet in the process. He might not be able to make the cannon work, but it was better then his previous idea.

The only resistance he met on the way there were thorns and random pools of deep water. Though once there, he had to duck quickly behind a large tangle of thorns as he spotted dark purple fur and heard the guttural language of the lurkers. Peering cautiously from his hiding place, Daxter counted four lurkers puzzling over the pulley system. From the way they were scratching their heads and poking it with their clubs, these couldn't be more then the lowest of the grunts, nothing but brute strength…strength that Daxter didn't have.

He easily out run them if it came to it, but only one strike from their clubs would bring him down. Besides, running wasn't an option now; he had to get up that cliff face. What he needed to do was outsmart them somehow. Which couldn't be to hard, if his earlier observations were correct.

How was the only question, he could throw a rock, except that the area was completely enclosed and small to boot. They would reach him before he could get far up the cliff, no matter how fast he went. Studying the lurkers again, an idea formed in Daxter's head. Shuffling deeper into the thorns to conceal himself as he checked the path to see if his idea would work. Cracking a shadow of a grin, he peered at the lurkers again, who were still studying the lift.

"Hey Iuglies/I!" He shouted jumping out from behind the thorns into their line of sight. " Come and get some!"

It took a moment for the Lurkers to register what was going on, but once they did they roared and charged him. Streaking from his place near the thorns, Daxter scrambled up onto a high rock, waiting a moment to make sure he was being followed, before jumping to the next. The lurkers didn't even try to climb up after him, just kept yelling and crashing after him through the swamp.

They didn't go far before Daxter heard the yells behind him become frantic ones. Stopping, he turned and looked back into the swamp not far bellow. Sure enough, the four brutes were flailing and splashing in the deep water, trying vainly to stay a float. Now all he had to worry about was one of them being smart enough to let go of their heavy clubs.

--

To Daxter's immense dismay the pulley's lift was damaged beyond repair, beaten to pieces by what could only have been the Lurkers. Meaning that he had to climb the rock face himself. On the bright side the rope seemed to be securely held to the top, making the accent a bit easier.

After finally hauling himself over the top of the cliff, Daxter took a few moments to catch his breath.

" Stupid pant freaking pant LURKERS!"

Dragging himself over to the cannon, Daxter used it to pull himself to his feet. Glancing ahead of him he could see the giant Lurker, Klaww, still creating and throwing flaming boulders onto the village bellow. After watching the great beast do this a few times, something occurred to Daxter. The lurker was in fact standing in lava yes, but it never moved from that particular spot.

Climbing the cannon swiftly with his tiredness suddenly forgotten, Daxter sat cross-legged on the barrel and pulled out the mini telescope again. Anyone could see that Klaww was wearing some kind of thick chest plate, one that could be assumed to power the device it used to create boulders on it's arm, but something was nagging the back of Daxter's mind about it.

There was no possible way any living thing could stand in lava without melting, and Daxter was right. If you looked close enough, you could see that the chest plate was not over the Lurker's fur, but Iunder/I it. Moving the telescope to view the rest of the beast, Daxter could see bits of metal shining on its arms, presumably where bits of molten lava had splashed. The kicker was the beasts face. One could plainly see the hinges on the jaw, and its eyes nothing more then what looked like painted glass.

The creature was a machine!

Keira had made something similar once, a toy Crocadog that dig flips. Of course, after a few flips the toy stopped working and had to be recharged with eco. If what he had heard from the villagers was true, Klaww had been assaulting them for Iweeks/I. Which brought another question to Daxter's mind along side the one of how it stayed powered.

Swinging the scope in a wide arc, Daxter watched as Klaww through boulder after flaming boulder into the water bellow, I into the exact same spot/I. If Klaww had been doing this for weeks, there should be a huge pile of the things, but each one sank into the I shallow/I water, and disappeared.

" What the hell?" Daxter exclaimed. " How's it doing THAT?"

Sitting back, Daxter thought it over. He knew for a fact that the water wasn't deep enough to hold untold amounts of giant flaming boulders, hell, he could see the bottom from here! Yet despite that fact, no boulders sat on the ocean floor, even with Klaww repeatedly throwing boulders there.

Repeatedly…Because it was a machine.

Daxter could feel his pupils dilate as his blood went cold. This had been happening for weeks, and yet no one noticed what he did? Weeks, and no one sent for help of any kind? Weeks, and no one had thought to leave?

Daxter's breath hitched as he scanned the village again. Despite the fact that there were few people there, there should have been houses or tents somewhere, there should be a farm of some kind and livestock. There should be signs that I people lived there/I.

Fumbling with the pouch on his side, Daxter just managed to drop the scope in there instead of into the pit bellow, and pull of the communicator Keira had given him. Turning it on with shaking fingers, Daxter pressed the "Talk" button.

" Keira? Keira, you there babe?"

He let a few moments passed before trying again, this time sounding more frantic then he would have liked.

" Keira?!"

" I'm here, I'm here geeze. Daxter? You'd better be in mortal peril right now, or daddy's going to be mad you're still alive. Why haven't you turned on the Telleporter yet, it's been hours! …You I are/I ok, right Daxter?"

"Yeah yeah, I'm fine sweet stuff, thanks for caring, I would have turned it on sooner, but there's this huge party going on down in the village! Couldn't help my self yanno…"

"….Daxter?"

"mmm?"

" There's no village near the Blue Sage's lab"


	8. Story

"No…no village

You'll see the number 1 down there somewhere, and when it appears know that what Daxter tells Samos is exactly what the Shadow said when Jak tried to tell him they were from the past. Enjoy the plot twists :D

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, or at least read the last chapters 3.

Disclaimer: Anything Jak and Daxter related belongs to Naughty Dog.

--

"No…no village? Sweet heart, this here place is called Rock Village ain't it? Wouldn't it make sense for there to be, oh I dunno, a VILLAGE here?"

Daxter did his best to keep his tone and breathing even. This all had to be some huge mistake, hallucinations from the swamp gas or something.

"There used to be a village there, before the Disaster that is. Rock Village's high walls and low ground caused it to become submerged. Fortunately for us, it stopped a lot of the Dark eco from reaching Sandover, but at the price of the entire population of Rock Village. Daxter, you should know this already, even if you don't listen to a word Daddy says."

Keira sounded more then a little annoyed, but Daxter kept with his questions.

"Of course I knew that, just testing ya! But, uh hey, you remember that Croca-dog thing you made that one time?"

"Of course I remember it, stop avoiding the subject Daxter."

" I'm not, I promise sweet stuff just bare with me here." When no reply came from the other end, Daxter continued. " Now lets say that some one had, theoretically of course, made more o' them Croca-dog things, only the looked and acted like…oh lets say…people? Yeah, and as long as we're on that thought, lets say they made one that looked like a giant lava lovin' lurker too. How would one go about getting' rid of 'em?"

The silence on the other end continued.

"Keira? You still with me?" It was not Keira's voice however, that finally answered him.

" Daxter, do you mean to tell me that you've been in Rock Village all this time, and haven't turned on the telleporter because there are ANDROIDS there?!" Daxter held his hands over the speaker when Samos' voice began to thunder out of it.

" Shhhh! Not so loud, I do NOT want to end up melted lurker bait thank you very much." Daxter whimpered quietly into the device.

"Daxter, I don't know what you're trying to pull, but cut it out. I know for a fact that technology isn't that advanced yet, so get off your butt and to the Blue sage's lab NOW!"

"Already been there ya floating green moss ball! Blue Sage ain't home, and his place is still trashed from that party I mentioned. Other then that, I'd LOVE to sneak down offa this cliff and back through the village to turn the damn thing on for ya. Oh yeah, there is the fact that I'm currently sitting on the only piece o' weaponry in the area that could even possibly dent the giant metal hair ball I'm stairin' at!" The words came out as an angry hiss, with more then a little bite thrown in.

"There is no possible way for what you're saying to be true, no one, I repeat, NO ONE in this time era is capable of creating AI units! I don't even know how you got the thought in your head so…" The rest of the Green Sage's words were cut off as Daxter angrily pressed the "talk" button on his end and held the Com. up in Klaww's direction. Once he was more then certain Kalww's distorted roar had been heard by the other party, Daxter let up on the button. There was a long silence before the Com. crackled to life again.

"Daxter, this is Keira again. Daddy…Daddy says that if you continue along the cliff you're on, you should reach the other side of the, the lava pit." She sounded worried and more then a little confused. " From there you can take the Zoomer through the Valley and reach the Red Sage's lab. Daddy say's it's of utmost importance that you turn on the telleporter there immediately….Daxter, what's going on? Daddy was angry, but when he heard that roar he just got…quiet. He, he wont talk to me either."

"I'm wondering that my self…and how does he know where I am for that matter?"

" I-I don't know. Just hurry, I don't like how things are starting to turn out…."

The click on the other end told Daxter that Keira had cut the connection, so it was in a deep state of confusion that Daxter pocketed the device. The things Samos had said didn't make much sense, how could he possible know for a fact that no one in Ithis time era/I could make…what had he called them? Androids, AI's, what did that even mean, and why did Samos sound so familiar with the terms?

Daxter suddenly thought of the inscription on Jak's tombstone of all things. According to the dates, Jak had been born after "Mar", yet some how his death was Ipre/I "Mar". "Mar" Also having been the short phrase added after Jak's name. What did all of this mean?

Sliding off the cannons barrel, Daxter nimbly landed on his feet and stared acrossed the cliff face. Judging from what Keira had said before she had cut the connection, the only way he was going to get some answers would be to talk to Samos' face to face. Which meant he had better start walking.

--

The abrupt change from lush greenery to hot volcanic crater was the least of Daxter's worries as his picked his way over the rotting bridge to the Red sages lab. Since it appeared that all sages had the ability of flight from the location of the cannon, the disrepair wasn't as confusing as it should have been. The Red sages lab was just as messy as the blue's had been, and how Samos's would have looked if he, Keira and…Jak didn't get cajoled into cleaning it from time to time.

Despite the mess it didn't take long to find the Telleporter switch. Pressing it with his foot Daxter stood to the side of the swirling blue mass. A few moments passed while Daxter wondered if he had to call them on the comm. or if they knew when his side was turned on somehow. His query was answered when first Keira, then Samos appeared from the ring. Both looked unnaturally solemn. Looking at Daxter with a serious face, Samos settled himself into the only chair.

"Make your selves comfortable. This is a tale I had hopped I wouldn't have to tell for some years now…nearly three to be exact." Daxter and Keira looked at each other curiously before doing as the sage had said on a stack of boxes, Keira sitting while Daxter leaned against the taller pile beside her.

"Not long from now, creatures called metal heads will over run the world destroying what little of civilization is left."

"Hold on green stuff, if you already know about these things why isn't anything being done to stop them, or at least prepare the populace?" Daxter interjected. Samos made a face that said he regretted not being close enough to whack the young man with his staff.

"I'm getting there, now be quiet!" Samos took the silence that followed his words as a go ahead. " As I was saying, very soon the metal heads will over run Precuria. The channelers from the various surviving knots of people will band together to hold them off. Unfortunately, the metal head's numbers will be too great as their first attack was without any kind of notice or warning." Samos paused to return the scathing look Daxter was giving him.

" Little by little these people will be pushed back to Sandover, trapped against the ocean. Then, seemingly from nowhere, a great hero will appear. Bringing with him unprecedented technology far more effective against the metal heads then the remaining channelers meager abilities. This hero will lead and protect the remaining citizens of Precuria and begin to build what will later be Haven city. That Hero's name was Mar. Few know that his full name was…Jak Mar."

From there Samos launched onto an possessed tirade of how the three of them somehow accompanied Jak back to the future, of which Samos himself was also from, to Haven City. Once there they would lead the fight against the remaining metal heads and the tyrant of Haven city, Baron Praxis. Then, to continue the cycle his younger self would take young Jak into the past to protect him. Oh, and apparently Daxter was supposed to be an Ottsel.

"Look, I don't know what kind of twigs you been chewing on, but I ain't buying this." The light laughter the followed the stunned look on Samos' face wasn't helping his case (1). Keira gave her father a worried look.

"Daddy what you say is incredible, but how can we believe you without proof?"

"Because what he's saying is true." Daxter jumped and whirled around, reflexively drawing the EES. The man at the door gave him an unimpressed look before dismissing him as a threat. Turning his gaze back to Samos, the man smiled slightly.

"It's good to see you again…Shadow." Samos made a choked sound from somewhere behind Daxter.

"Torn?!"


	9. Future

Not sure what to say about this chapter other then despite the time it took me to write it, it feels rushed somehow. That and "Tada"

--

The man standing in the door way looked like he had seen better days. He had some kind of light armor on, every part of it scratched and singed. His hair was cut neatly short, giving a good view to the tattoos on his face. Above all that made the man stand out was that Samos the Sage looked as though he had seen a ghost.

"Torn? Is that really you? But how?!" The man, Torn, held up a halting hand.

"Easy Shadow, we don't have time for a briefing. Come on, this place isn't safe." He said looking cautiously out the door the entire time. Daxter raised an eyebrow at the behavior.

"What's the hurry, tattoo face? 'Fraid a nasty little lurker's gonna jump in an' chew off yer leg?" Daxter let out an amused chuckle that was cut short when Samos' staff thwacked him over the head.

" This is no time for joking, Daxter! If Torn says we're not safe here, then we're not safe!" Turning back to Torn, he ushered Keira towards the door. " What's the hostile?"

"Metal-heads." Torn replied with an odd look at Daxter.

"Whoa! Hold on there, you mean them critters from the story you just told us? Gotta get yer hired help to follow the script Green stuff. You said them things were only in the Future." Daxter said planting his feet firmly, only to have Torn yank him out the door.

"Come on rat, I don't feel like putting up with your mouth today so get moving before I just shove you off the side." 'Off the side' being into the lava that surrounded the Red Sage's lab. Daxter gulped and eyed the burning magma warily.

"Well, lead the way then…" Once Torn dropped him and took the lead again, he mumbled a few impolite things about said mans mother. Torn glared back at him like he had heard what Daxter had said, but kept moving. He led them to a dark cave entrance in the side of the gorge.

"In here, it's a ways back but well defended. Only thing in here are spiders…though a few 'heads wander in now and then. Heh heh, the dumbest ones." Torn gave Daxter a leering glance briefly before catching himself. " Anyway they don't last long, we've got Jinx on security detail. It's amazing what he can do with so little materials." He paused to help Keira down off a high ledge.

" Jinx is here too?" Samos asked, using his green eco powers to float down. Torn nodded, again at the head of the group alertly watching their surroundings. The remaining trip was short and silent, though you could practically feel the waves of anxiety washing off of Samos. Finally they came to a crude but sturdy looking metal door with many deep gouges in it. Torn pulled some kind of flat card from his pocket and shoved it into a box on the side of the door. There was a beep and a creak as the door opened.

"Torn! Did you find them?" There were several people in the room who looked up at their arrival, but the busty blonde woman rushing towards them was the one who had spoken.

" Yeah, They were practically right out side our door." The woman looked at the assembled group quizzically, as though confused about something. Daxter spared a glance around the room. It seemed to be a mix of Keira's workshop and a large house. He could see a group of crude cots in one corner and something that looked like a kitchen area in another. Groups of mostly men were doing various busy looking things in the midsection, which was composed mostly of work benches with various machinery on them.

"Nice place you got here, now mind telling us what the deep fried precursors is goin' on here?" The woman gasped, hands flying to her mouth before Torn could respond.

"Daxxie?!" The room seemed to freeze at those words. The men who had been listening with one ear now had their full attention on the small group, Daxter in particular.

"In the flesh baby, although…do I know you Toots?" The woman looking on the verge of tears did nothing to stop the greasy looking blonde man who had walked up the their group from laughing his ass off.

"Well what'da you know? He really did use to be an elf!" Torn looked like he wanted to deck the man, but refrained.

" Tess, this isn't the Daxter we knew a few months ago. He doesn't know you." Tess took a deep breath to calm her self.

"I know Torn, but it's still…" She trailed off a moment, then shook herself. " Ashelin reported in right after you left, the Lurkers in the mountain continue to prove the only obstacle in getting the frozen reserves of Eco. Turns out Jak was right, Metal heads can't take the cold." Keira gasped slightly at the name, while Daxter just felt more annoyed.

"Lovely an all that, really. Though would someone mind explainin' WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?" He shouted the last part at Torn, who glared him down with an un-amused look. Daxter glared back, until both of them shifted to their gazes to the blonde man, who was laughing again.

" In the half-hour you've been gone, the reports have pilled up. I put 'em on yer desk." The blonde man said, addressing Torn. " See'in as I find my self with little to do at the moment, I'd be Imore/I then happy to debrief rat boy an' the Shadow" Keira looked un-amused at being left out from the short list, but was ignored. Turning back to the small group, the man introduced himself.

" I'm Jinx." The man paused and shook his head "You don't know how weird that was…freaking time travel shit. Any way follow me over to mah' own personal corner and we'll get this over with, and hopefully straightened out." Jinx sauntered off, obviously expecting them to follow him. Torn looked like he was about to go after t he man himself, but Tess grabbed his arm and shook her head before leading him off in another direction.

When Daxter turned his attention back to Jinx, Samos and Keira had nearly caught up with him. Leaving Daxter to stand in the front of the room being stared at by himself. With a sigh and a grumble he jogged after them.

--

Jinx's "own personal corner" was nothing more then a small lab of sorts tucked into a large niche in the cave wall and curtained off from the main room. Closing the curtain behind them, he pulled out a cigar and shoved it unlit into his mouth.

"So here's how things went down after ya left Shadow. Abbreviated of course ta' save time. The city got pissed at Jak, blaming the current metal head invasion on him, exiled him and rat boy to the waste land, and practically doomed themselves. Jak joins the Wastelanders somehow, quickly becomes one of their top fighters, then comes back to the city after Ashe' begs him to." Daxter and Keira opened their mouths at the same time to question the man, but jinx held up a hand.

"Whoa, questions at the end please. Anyway, Back at Haven the guys up top are all out of their minds, don't know rule one about warfare. Ya' ask me it was obvious the Baron and Erol really WERE the only ones keeping the metal heads from taking over. Go figure. Jak shows up outta nowhere and saves our Ass'es again, then finds out Erol's still alive somehow and bringin' the Darkmakers, they're like evil precursors, to own us all. So with minimal help from the Precursors Jak kicks THEIR ass'es and blows up their ship and we all find out that Pretty Boy is really Mar. Ensue more time travel headache." Jinx paused for a breath. "Then there was that whole racing thing but it's rather unimportant and I wasn't there so who really cares?"

"Now here's where our current situation starts. One day we're all going about our business rebuilding the city and BOOM! There's this huge shockwave. When we got our wits about us the city looked more like a battleground then it did during the Darkmaker war. Which wasn't what had most everyone screaming in the streets. People went ballistic the first few days, cause' all of a sudden we all had two sets of memories: Ones where shit went down how I just told you, and ones where things went differently…different like Jak was never there."

" But here's where the real fun starts, Remember the metal heads? Not only are they back full force, they're smarter and badder then before, being led by these two Dark Eco beings calling themselves sages. Gol and Maia Acheron." Jinx waved down Samos this time. "At the end, the end!" Samos quieted but urged him on silently.

" From the "other memories" people knew more or less what going on, but there were people who weren't supposed to be there that I didn't /I have the right memories. From what we got out of Pecker an Onin before a 'Head got them was that the two Timelines had melded into one, bringing along whoever was alive in both into one existence. So of course the only way to fix it was to got back into the time line and find out what went wrong…an' as soon as we discovered that no one had any clue where Jak was (or who he was sometimes) we knew something had gone wrong in this time era."

"I can see the question on your faces, 'how'd we get back here'? Turns out Erol an' the Baron were still alive in the other timeline, more or less leading what was left of Haven too!" Jinx shook his head and chewed on his Cigar for a moment before continuing. " Erol used to hang out at your" he motioned to Keira " Garage for some reason or another that no one is willing to dig into, and knew the schematics for somthin' he insisted on calling 'the rift rider'. He managed to get it built with the help of the Head wasteland Monk Seem, who also got her band of monks to dig up the precursor time ring, and here we are." Jinx motioned to the room with an exaggerated wave.

The group of three took a moment to let all that information sink in. Samos was the first one to speak up.

"If what you said is true, and Erol and Praxis have their memories from your timeline, why are they helping you?" Jinx gave him a long look and sighed. "Since they were only alive in one timeline, that versions personality is dominant. Their goal is to do what ever they can to get rid of the Metalhead's, and fixin' the timeline was the only option left. For those of us who were still kick'n in both timelines, well this one guy went nuts and killed himself. Wasn't pretty."

"From the way you were worried about the Metal heads it's obvious they followed you, and if things are as bad as you keep saying, how are WE supposed to help ya?" Daxter interjected, folding his arms.

"Well, for starters, if you have any idea of when the timeline went wrong I'd be happy to hear it." Daxter held his stare.

" Sorry to burst 'yer bubble but you didn't go back far enough. Jak's been dead for over a week now."


	10. Discovery

Been awhile huh? Going to do my best to finish this thing I swear, if anyone is still interested.

**Warning: Crude Language.**

* * *

"...Well shit." Jinx said after a long silence.

"Yeah, shit." Daxter glared. "The hell are all'a you even doing looking for a fourteen year old to pull your asses outta the fire anyway?! You've obviously got all these fighters and high tech shit- don't even try to say other wise- and you can't wipe your own asses?" Snapped the red head. He was getting sick and tired of all this nonsense. Of people just wanting to _use_ him...or in this case Jak.

"Whoa, whoa. Hold on there sparky." Said Jinx, holding his hands up defensively. "We aint here to ask ole Jakky boy for help. Well, not right away. Though it does sound really bad when you put it that way..." He mumbled at the end, then louder; " We're mostly supposed to be a protection detail. We knew he'd only be a kid."

"As much as I hate to say it, Daxter has a point. Jak is...was...the best fighter and strongest channeler I've ever known, but he's just one guy!" Keira added looking a bit frazzled at trying to process all this new information.

"Keira, Daxter, I know you don't understand right now but Jak's role in the timestream is irreplacable!" Started Samos, thumping his staff on the ground for attention. "Without him to defeat the Metal Head leader the world as we know it may end! HAS been ending from the sound of Jinx's tale."

"News flash, sounds like the world still exists to me. You guys got ways to kill these things?" Daxter asked Jinx.

"Yeah but-"

"Then go fucking kill them! You're all a bunch'a grownups so act like it and clean up your own messes! We got our own problems to deal with!" Daxter snapped, cutting Jinx off before he could spout excuses. Not wanting to hear anymore of this- this _nonsense_ the redhead spun on heel and stalked out of the alcove.

He was just so, so_ mad_. Why couldn't anyone ever step up and handle things themselves? Part of what let the Disaster get so wide spread was people would rather suck their thumbs and hide while waiting for someone else to save them than do something about the situation themselves. Ever since they had been old enough to wander out on their own people had been sticking jobs they didn't want on Jak and himself.

Some of it had been important like fixing the walk ways around the village, and making sure the fence around the Yakkow pens were sturdy. Other things? Other things had been pointless such as running errands for Samos. Some had been downright dangerous.

Killing Lurkers who got too close to the village for one. There were plenty of strong, healthy adults who could have been sent to deal with that stuff but it always fell to Jak and Daxter. Mostly Jak because no one believed that the more cautious boy of the two actually COULD fight, but nontheless the two of them always did the dirty work.

Daxter didn't even know if any of the other villagers COULD fight. Not that they had taken time to try and learn. So yup, instead of learning how to take care of themselves the villagers had just always said 'Jak will handle it!'.

It was kinda funny how Daxter never really _noticed_ before. He might have complained a lot sure, but it was all for show and attention. He'd never really stopped to think about it until all of _this_ started happening. Never thought about how the people around him just-just USED him and Jak with barely even a thank you.

Now these people from the FUTURE of all places, that he didn't even KNOW, were trying to do the _exact same thing_ and he was just-

"Having a bad day sweetie?" Then the voice of an _angel_ cut through the red haze Daxter had been in. Blinking he saw the blonde woman from earlier smiling at him. She looked tired and a little sad but holy Precursers on a stick she had to have the biggest breasts the red head had ever seen...and she was talking to_ him_.

"Er?" Daxter said intelligently. He could FEEL his face heating up with the effort it took to look at her eyes and not her chest. He'd been too rushed to really notice earlier but now...freaking puberty. Messing up his angry rant time when he was getting some where with it.

"You looked upset. I can relate, everything has been so crazy around here since...well just since. We- I guess we haven't actually met yet. I'm Tess. Before...all of this we were good...friends." She paused at the end like she wanted to use a different word, but Daxter didn't care. The beautiful blonde had just reminded him that she was one of _them_.

Pulling his brain power back north Daxter steeled himself against her pretty blue eyes and womanly figure and reminded himself that he was pissed at these people.

"Yeah toots, crazy don't even begin to cover it. So 'friend', gonna guess you know my name's Daxter." She nodded, still looking a little sad and wistful. "What'cha do around here?"

"Oh, I design the guns!" By the Precursors it was like someone had let the sun in through the clouds. If Daxter had thought she was pretty before, now she was radiant.

"Er, Guns?" He asked, having no idea what those even were. Tess smiled at him again and the young elf felt a feeling of both dread and excitement go through him.

* * *

"You have all of these powerful weapons, and you guys STILL can't beat them Metal Head things?!" Daxter was having a hard time keeping his jaw off the floor at the display of raw power he'd seen in the last hour. Not long after Tess had led him to the 'Gun Course' area Keira had showed up looking for him. The blue haired girl had drooled enough over the tech to fill an ocean. The two girls had hit it off right away, spewing technojargon and lightning fast conversation that had Daxter's head spinning.

"Yeah. They're just that tough. We can hold em off a few at a time, but they've got numbers. Full squads usually need the numbers to be even before they'll engage and even then you might lose someone." Tess sighed, placing the gun she'd been showing them down on the table with a heavy 'thunk'. Girl had some muscle that's for sure.

"The most terrible thing is they're hunting us just to _exterminate_ us. 'Heads never eat anything they kill. Heck we're not even sure WHAT they eat, if they don't just exist on dark eco alone. That's apart of what makes them so dangerous. Even their corpses are highly toxic, almost pure dark eco. That's why..." Tess paused with a look at Daxter and Keira as if she was unsure whether or not to continue.

"That's why Jak is so important. Why he was able to do everything that he did. The Dark Eco couldn't hurt him." She finished in an almost whisper.

"What'ya mean couldn't hurt him? Dark Eco is what-" Daxter cut himself off with a jerk, eyes wide.

"...Daxter?" Keria started hesitantly. Conversation didn't go farther than that as a guy, Daxter had no idea who this particular elf was, came into the room.

"Tess? Ashelin's unit is back with that eco. Torn wants you to look over it to see if you can use any of it for ammo."

"Thanks, I'll be right there." Said the blonde elf with a small smile. "If you two want to wait here that's ok, just be careful with the guns. They're pretty dangerous if you don't know what you're doing." Tess told them before hurrying out of the room. Keira and Daxter exchanged a quick look before hurrying after her. Keira because she wanted to learn everything she could about this new technology and Daxter because he didn't want to be left in there alone. With his luck one of the heavy hunks of metal would fall off the walls and shoot him in the face.

In the biggest cavern and closest to the entrance and team of elves was rolling in some kind of hovering platform stacked with metal containers. Talking to Torn and directing the shipments was a woman with even bigger breasts than Tess, if that was possible, and what HAD to be an unnatural shade of red hair.

"...don't understand. These have obviously been frozen for decades but the material of the barrels and the markings could place them with in a few years of our era." The red head was saying, looking flustered. "I'm worried that us coming here was a big mistake, if we've started some sort of time anomaly..."

"I'm sure it's fine Ashelin. We'd notice if the fabric of the universe were unraveling around us." Said Torn.

"You mean like oh I don't know, time streams merging and life as we know it being thrown into chaos?" Ashelin, the red haird woman, sarcastically remarked. Torn looked like he didn't have anything to say to that. Luckily for him he didn't have to.

"What'cha got for me today guys?" Tess said, smoothly inserting herself into the conversation.

"Eco, mostly dark but our team was able to identify at least one barrel of yellow while we were loading. Now to find out if any of it is still usable." Said Ashelin, gesturing to the floating cart. Keira looked like she wanted to dismantle the thing then and there.

"Oooo, that's great! Hopefully there's more than one barrel of yellow, but dark can at least let us power some of the heavier gear." Tess said eyeing the shipment with an expert eye.

"Hey hold up, I thought the dark stuff was a super scary no-no. You use it to power stuff?" Daxter cut in, getting twin nasty glares from both tattoo faced elves. Actually a lot of elves seemed to have face tats of some kind, though they were all smaller and less detailed than Torn and Ashelin's.

"We've got more important things to do than play tour guide right now. Either make youself useful helping to unload this eco or get lost." Torn dismissed.

"Yesh, I can see manners arn't somethin' they teach you in the future. Right up there with doing your own dirty work." Daxter shot back. Torn looked like he was either going to bust a blood vessel or shoot himself his right eye was twitching so fast. Ashelin likewise gave a heavy sigh and placed a hand over her face. Daxter though he heard her mumble something about not missing his mouth, but he wasn't sure.

"Listen here, _rat_." Stressed Torn, "We've got a big operation to pull off and I don't have TIME for you insubordinate-"

"Look out!" Shouted one of the Elves unloading the eco. The hovering platform was sputtering, the propulsion underneath going out and causing the stacks of eco barrels to teeter dangerously. They heard one crash down on the other side, and the world dissolved into slow motion as Daxter saw the top most container start to fall...directly above Tess.

"Aw shit, MOVE!" Shouted Daxter. Like most people caught by surprise she only stared upwards in shock at the approaching barrel, lid already coming off. Not even thinking the red and blond haired elf felt his body surge into motion. Daxter didn't even realize what he was doing until he felt his hands collide with Tess's soft flesh, pushing her out of the way of the falling eco.

There was a brief look of shock, or maybe horror, on her face as the now open barrel knocked Daxter to the stone floor. Said boy felt all the air in his lungs go out in a little 'whoosh' as the now empty container knocked him to the floor and bounced off. He barely had enough time to suck that air back in before it left him again in a scream of agony as the contents of the barrel splashed over him.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT HOLY FREAKING PRECURSORS OW OW OWOWOWOWOWOW!" Daxter screamed at the intense burning feeling throughout his body. He kept his eyes tightly shut to keep the eco out as he flailed around, trying to get the stuff _off_.

He heard shouting over his own and after what felt like an eternity but was probably only a minute or two Daxter was knocked off his feet again by the force or something liquid hitting him again. As more of this new liquid washed over him the intense pain dulled to the point where he was able to sit up and try to block the spray.

"Ok, Ok I'm good! Quit spraying that stuff at me!" Almost imediatly the barrage ceased. Wiping liquid off his face Daxter chanced opening an eye. When the intesne agony didn't return he opened them the rest of the way and looked around. Everyone looked like they'd seen a ghost, or were ghosts from as white as they were.

Tess was holding some sort of large hose, the end still dripping with water. Daxter guessed that was the second liquid he'd gotten hit with. What was the first? Looking down at himself the red head felt like passing out. Giving of it's faint sickly glow was dark eco. Everywhere. On his clothes, all around him, even some crackling in the air. Much of it was diluted by water but it was still _there._

Daxter wanted to starting screaming and clawing at himself. This stuff had KILLED Jak and he was just sitting in it like he was having a picnic!

Huh.

Wait.

Just sitting in it? He had to admit it still stung a little but even now the pain was fading. He wasn't absorbing it or anything, but it didn't seem to be really hurting him anymore either. Nothing was melting or falling off, or turning funny colors like people sometimes did with eco poisoning.

Blinking, Daxter looked at the crowed again in confusion before getting to his feet and brushing off. As he made his way out of the mix of water and eco the wall of elves quickly back pedaled. Nerves picking up Daxter decided to deal with this the same way he would any other situation.

"See baby? You ain't got nothing to fear with the Daxtinator here. I barely even felt that." He bluffed, flashing what he hoped was a winning smile in Tess's horror stricken direction. No one seemed to know what to say, even Samos was ashen and dumbfounded. Though with him it was more of a mint green.

Pushing his way through the crowed, Jinx surveyed the situation. Lighting up the cigar sticking out of his mouth he eloquently summed up the situation.

"Well, shit."


	11. Reality

Have you ever started writing with a clear picture of where you want something to go, and then part way through the story just decides that hey, maybe _this_ will work better...Yeah that's what happened with this chapter.

Thank you to Pictomancer, Arenahi and DarkEcoFreak3 for reviewing~

To address a question, "Is Jak still alive?" If you had asked this a couple years ago when I first started this fic the answer would have been 100% no. Lately though I've been thinking of a way he could come back...you know just to add to the angst pile that is Daxter in this thing.

* * *

After the collective managed to get their shock under control their was a flurry of shout and activity that made even Daxter wish for quiet. Since then he had spent a week being poked, prodded, stared at and examined by Samos and the future gang's eco experts. As if having a barrel of dark eco dumped on him wasn't enough torture.

The egg heads kept going on and on in excited whispers about things like 'eco immunity' and 'unusually resilient immune system'. Not that they'd give Daxter a straight answer when he asked. Honestly he felt more and more like the rat everyone kept telling him he was supposed to be.

When it all came down to it he was just being _used_ again. So in the middle of the night a week later when he'd been put on the proverbial shelf for the night to get some sleep, Daxter did what any oppressed teenager locked inside would do. He snuck out.

Security really sucked since all he had to do was cover his bright orange and yellow hair to just walk right past the guards with little more than a wave. No wonder these morons couldn't keep it together. Daxter had never seen one of them metal head things but he bet they weren't so tough.

The fact that it was the middle of the night didn't matter much to Daxter as he scramble over the rocky terrain. He'd always had pretty good night vision and all the lava glowing up from the canyon floor certainly helped. Daxter didn't really have a destination in mind, he just needed to get _away_ from all the elves looking at him like meat. Though he had to admit they were better than the ones that looked at him with something akin to hope.

Like Tess.

"Girl has a rockin' bod I'll giver her that, but she's got to have at least ten years on me." Daxter grumbled to himself, finally letting his restless feet plop him down at the base of a Precursor idol. The teen had always felt calmer around these things and had an uncanny knack for finding them. Sometimes he even swore he could hear..._something_ when he got close enough. It scared and thrilled him all at the same time.

Here and now though, nestled between the big lumps that could have been arms, Daxter simply felt a sense of peace. Until the ancient piece of crap started talking to him.

"**The future and past are forever intertwined, young...hero.**" Said the Idol, humming to life. If Daxter had a little more time to think he'd have been insulted by how reluctant the orange mass said the last part.

"HOLY JUMPING YAKKOWS!" Screeched the elf, leaping to his feet and hopping a few steps before managing to turn around. It had felt like someone had poured _ice _over him when the Idol had activated. Plus there was the fact that despite years of prodding the Precursor Idol in Sandover the thing had never done anything but sit there like a dumb rock.

"**Must you be so loud?**" The Idol sounded aggravated and weary. "**We have little time. This unit is not meant for more than relaying recordings.**"

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa WHOA, hold on, what the hell, we? What? Who? WHAT?" Was he dreaming? Probably. Heck he was probably still flopping out his last minutes of life on the floor of the future people's cave (Freedom League just sounded dumb), covered in dark eco and hallucinating.

"We are the Precursors and we have much to tell you." Daxter was sure he would quit hyperventilating if he could just pick his jaw up off the ground.

"The Precursors? Talkin' to ME?! I think you got the wrong guy here." He squeaked, trying to breath easily.

"**Precisely the problem.**" Grumbled the statue, sounding a little like Samos. "**Take the lift into the mountains, we will guide you to a more suitable place for us to bestow our wisdom from there.**"

"Assuming I don't FREEZE TO DEATH first! Why the heck should I even do what you say anyway? How do I know you're not just some dark eco induced hallucination huh?" That's it Dax, though the red head to himself, just keep talking and you don't have to _think_ about this mess.

The statue was quiet for a time before replying. "**Return to your...home...and collect the-**" There was a burst of light and noise and smell and _pictures in his mind_ that made the young elf stagger to his knees. "**Take these power cells to activate them. Come quickly...**" The idol trailed off, going dark.

Daxter held his head in his hands as he tried to get over the shock of just simply _knowing_ all this new information. It was bizarrely close to how he would 'hear' Jak when no one else could (not that anyone believed him on that part, he was just good at reading body language to them) but at the same time so much MORE.

He knew everything about these..._things_ he was being sent to get now. Knew what they looked like, what they were for, how they were made and programmed and it was just too much foreign information that didn't make _sense_...

Squeezing his eyes shut and forcibly shoving the images away, Daxter took a few deep and even breaths to calm himself. If he had needed any proof that the Precursors were actually talking to him, there it was.

It wasn't until he heard shouting in the distance that Daxter was able to force himself to move. He grabbed the power cells floating merrily on the cave floor and tucked them into his pouch. Standing, he peered out of the cave to see elves milling around the entrance to their head quarters in the former Spider Caves. Looks like they had noticed he was missing.

Eying the distance between them, himself, and the red sages hut Daxter shrugged and made a break for it. The older elves saw him right away and their shouts grew excited. Torn was leading the pack as they raced him for the Red Sages lab and BOY did he look pissed.

Even as he pounded over the swinging bridge leading into the sage's lab Daxter had to chuckle a bit at that. Serves him right for having such a large stick up his ass. The boy hoped he got stuck with more of that 'paper work' he'd been growling (read; complaining) about since Daxter had taken his eco shower.

Daxter had to admit the man was fast though as he lept through the telleporter ring. Just a little faster and he might have made it to through the ring as well before Daxter shut it off from the other side.

"Heheheheh, so long tattoo face." Daxter laughed under his breath. Taking a step away from the now inactive ring, he looked around Samos' hut.

"Look at that, it can stay pretty clean without old log head here to mess it up." Skirting the fanged plant in the corner with an almost skittish step (seriously why was that thing so creepy as of late, Daxter wondered) the red head stepped out into the early morning light of Sandover. Daxter guessed he had spent more time huddled on the ground next to that Precursor Idol than he thought. Time in the volcanic crater was hard to judge though since the high walls blocked out the sun unless it was directly over head.

"Yeesh, the Village sure smells like it could use a bath though." Daxter grumbled as he stepped off the wooded walkway. The little huts didn't LOOK any different, but man did the place smell. Kinda like something rotting now that he thought about it. Like the time he and Jak had come across that bloated, half decayed Lurker corpse in the Forbidden Jungle. Only about a hundred times worse and _everywhere_. Seriously he was starting to gag here.

Rounding the corner into the village square Daxter felt cold as the blood drained from his...everywhere. It looked like...dear Precursors Daxter didn't even have words for what he was seeing. Strength left his legs as he stared at the bloody, rotting piles of meat strewn across the village center. Limbs lay silently far from their bodies. HEADS lay..._entrails_...

All at once Daxter started throwing up everything he had ever eaten. Even when his stomach was empty he kept heaving, tears streaming down his face in little rivers. Shaking on his hands and knees the red head felt hot and cold and horribly numb all at the same time. He had to move, he had to get away from here. He had to go...

Half running half stumbling away he almost didn't see the creatures until it was too late. Maybe it was the years of training and running around with Jak. Maybe his senses of survival were heightened in his panicked and yet detached state. What ever it was that had the red head whipping out the EES and extending it just in time to slice through something heavy as it sailed through the air at him, it saved his life.

The almost familiar feel of dark eco sprayed over Daxter's skin, the pain bringing the world into sharp focus. It didn't hurt anywhere NEAR as much as the first time had but it was enough to snap him to attention. Appearing from over rooftops and around corners were green and grey creatures of various shapes and sizes. The only thing they had in common other than color scheme was the glowing yellow gem on each of the creature's skulls.

_Metal Heads._

Suddenly the way the Freedom Leagued acted made sense. Suddenly these fairy tale monsters were _real_.

As the alien creatures began rushing him en-mass Daxter felt a calm sort of fury come over him. Something broken and becoming whole all at the same time. From there there were no more thoughts, just a whirlwind of death and color as the EES flashed from Eco to eco.

Blue, with it's sharp edge and lightning shocks.

Yellow, almost insubstantial as it flickered, lighting enemies a blaze with the screams of crackling fires.

Red, red almost didn't cut at all instead knocking foes realing and sending them flying only to land yards away, heads caved in.

Green however, Green was the dealiest to these creatures. Green cut them deeper than blue, burned them worse than yellow, and forced them away with snarls as though the sight of it were a red shockwave. Green also lept into Daxters cuts and bruises as he gained them, melting the hurts away.

Green was the first eco he ran out of as well. Which made sense as twice as much was used between fighting and healing. Yellow went next, sputtering to a glowing ember. Red lasted Daxter long enough to fight his way to the Blue Eco vent in Keira's lab and from there the slaughter continued.

Daxter couldn't recall later when it all ended. When the creatures stopped coming for him with frenzied passion. Dark eco dripped from him along side his own blood as the creatures lay dead around him. Leaning on the depleated spear Daxter panted and tried to get his legs to stop shaking. Now that it was over and thought was returning...well he wished he was still fighting.

Everyone was _dead_...just like Jak. Daxter wasn't angry or numb or even sad at this. Just...tired. So very tired. He tried to be angry at the people who had come from the future, bringing these monsters with them as he raided Samos' green eco store. Tried to be furious at them for bringing this mess back with them as he broke open the little wooden containers of eco. To blame them with everything in his being as the green energy healed his wounds once more.

Using the last of the eco to recharge the EES, Daxter wearily picked his way through the already decaying metal head corpses back to the village. It was time to meet the Precursors.


End file.
